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| ManiaPlanet | |
| Environment(s): | Canyon Storm Stadium Valley |
| Solo Mode(s): | Race Platform |
| Mood(s): | Sunrise Day Sunset Night |
| Developer(s): | Nadeo |
| Publisher(s): | Ubisoft |
| Director(s): | Florent Castelnérac |
| Series: | TrackMania ShootMania |
| Expansion(s): | TrackMania 2: Canyon ShootMania Storm TrackMania 2: Stadium TrackMania 2: Valley |
| Platform(s): | Microsoft Windows |
| Release Date(s): | 14 September 2011 (version 1) 4 July 2012 (version 2) 30 April 2014 (version 3) 9 May 2017 (version 4) |
| Genre(s): | Racing, puzzle, first-person shooter |
| Mode(s): | Single-player, multiplayer |
| Credits | Images | Official Website |
| Chronology | |
| TrackMania Turbo (2010) | TrackMania Turbo (2016) |
ManiaPlanet was a digital platform and game engine released in 2011, which hosted TrackMania 2 and ShootMania. ManiaPlanet was designed to be a "user-powered" service, allowing extensive user-generated content from vehicles and texture mods to even custom gamemodes and in-game websites called Manialinks.[1]
ManiaPlanet was announced in 2009 with a teaser for TrackMania 2. It was released 2 years later with TrackMania 2: Canyon as its first expansion. In 2012, spin-off ShootMania was released, blending elements from first person shooters and platforming. In 2013, a high-definition remake of TrackMania Stadium was released, as well as TrackMania 2: Valley.
In May 2017, ManiaPlanet received its last major update. It introduced TrackMania 2: Lagoon, which is based on Lagoon Rollercoaster from TrackMania Turbo. A third title, QuestMania, was originally planned to be released, but no information was released since the 2010 E3 teaser and is believed to be cancelled. It has since become an internet meme.
Although ManiaPlanet was praised for its concept, its reception was mixed. In 2014, Ian Williams from Paste criticised ManiaPlanet for its confusing design and interface: "Maniaplanet, itself, is a weird program. You get a certain number of windows, each of which can be a game. But that number is finite, meaning you can only install a certain number of Nadeo titles. You can get more windows, but it’s never as clear as it should be how."[2]
With the announcement and release of Nadeo's 2020 title, TrackMania, the ManiaPlanet project had seemingly been shelved. The platform is still available on the ManiaPlanet website.
History[]
ManiaPlanet 1.0 was released on 14 September 2011. Since TrackMania 2: Canyon was the only title released at the time, players who start the game would go straight there. ManiaPlanet 2.0 was released on 4 July 2012 with new blocks for the Canyon environment and a new home screen. On 30 April 2014, ManiaPlanet 3.0 was released.
Titles[]
- TrackMania 2: Canyon (2011)
- ShootMania Storm (2013)
- ShootMania Platform (2014)
- TrackMania 2: Stadium (2013)
- TrackMania 2: Valley (2013)
- TrackMania 2: Lagoon (2017)
Upcoming[]
- ShootMania Cryo (TBA)
External Links[]
| Games |
|---|
| Virtual Skipper: Virtual Skipper | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5: 32nd America's Cup | 5 | Online TrackMania: ShootMania: ManiaPlanet: |